Animations have been a big focus in Android P, so it was a bit surprising when the new Recents menu landed without one for invoking it. In earlier versions of Android P it just sort of plopped up without any fanfare. But now in DP3/Beta 2, Google has introduced a new rubbery bounce complete with corresponding haptic feedback, as well as a new semi-transparent rounded background for the app tray. The mild translucency in the full app list also appears to be mostly gone (thankfully).

All the changes are succinctly summarized via the animations above, but if you'd prefer a text description: The app shortcuts in the Recents menu accelerate just above where they did previously, with a weighty bounce back down to their original position. Note, this only seems to occur when opening Recents from the home screen, for some reason. A new rounded white semitransparent background for the app tray and elongated search field accompanies this change.

New haptic feedback is also apparent, both when pulling up the UI and when switching between apps with a drag of the pill.

In a small personal victory, the app drawer is also no longer as translucent. I found the previous design to look pretty dirty with that tiny bit of transparency. The new look is much cleaner, though it may still have a tiny bit of (entirely unnecessary) transparency left to it.